“To cause viewers to pause and
notice the mundane in the environments they pass through, notice the
bits of unexpected beauty that sometimes go undetected through their
lives.”

.

We remember Sophia Allison from last year’s exhibit ofDoing Pennants: (Artist Made Pennants) at Fifth Floor Gallery, Los Angeles, which was organized by Paul W. Evans in 2012.

For those of you following the mobile art
scene, this Los Angeles-based, multi-media artist has additionally been
curating one-day, site specific, pop up exhibitions. ShoeboxLA, started in September 2011 (also with Paul). If you blinked, you missed it.

On November 21, 2013 through January 20, 2014, Sophia Allison has a
home at the Moorpark College Art Gallery and will be presenting a solo
exhibition entitled, “Far“ open to the public.
As a special treat, she will also be giving an Artist Lecture on
Wednesday, December 4, 1:00pm, in the Campus Center Conference Room.

In Far, Sophia offers an autobiography of sewn landscapes
and works on paper. The work is directly connected to and inspired by
the organic surroundings of her childhood home in the mountains of
Western North Carolina and her current home in Los Angeles. Far
alludes to not only the physical distance of familiar locations but
also the emotional aspects of memories attached to specific places.

In her sewn pictorials, Sophia places a printed image on fabric and
repetitively sews through the paper, forcing it into the cloth fibers
while simultaneously destroying the paper. Parts of the image are
recreated with thread on the opposite side of the material. The effect
is two- fold: on one side, the landscape is clearly articulated; on the
other, the paper image is obliterated, leaving loose threads and uneven
textures. The image is simultaneously destroyed and built up; it is
recognized as a snapshot of a specific location and at the same time it
becomes fragmented and abstracted.

Moorpark College Art
Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Sophia Allison.
In Far,
the Los Angeles-based, multi-media artist
offers an autobiography of sewn landscapes and works on paper. The
work is directly connected to and inspired by the organic
surroundings of her childhood home in the mountains of Western North
Carolina and her current home in Los Angeles. Far
alludes to not only the physical distance of familiar locations but
also the emotional aspects of memories attached to specific places.

Her
recent works on paper are collaged abstracted landscapes. Allison
paints acrylic on both sides of a piece of watercolor paper and
allows it dry directly on her studio floor. As the paper dries, dirt,
grit and grime from the floor attach to the painting, creating
variable textures. The paper is then cut down into pieces for the
collage works. The forms within these works undulate and flow,
creating movement in the images that loosely resemble various
mountain topography. The works are created from Allison's memory of
local physical terrain.

In her sewn pictorials,
Allison places a printed image on fabric and repetitively sews
through the paper, forcing it into the cloth fibers while
simultaneously destroying the paper. Parts of the image are recreated
with thread on the opposite side of the material. The effect is
two-fold: on one side, the landscape is clearly articulated; on the
other, the paper image is obliterated, leaving loose threads and
uneven textures. The image is simultaneously destroyed and built up;
it is recognized as a snapshot of a specific location and at the same
time it becomes fragmented and abstracted.

An artist lecture will be
held on Wed., Dec. 4 at 1p.m. In the Campus Center Conference Room.